The first Michael Hayes Memorial Lecture was given by Gerald O’Collins SJ on 23 June 2018 at The Pastoral Review Congress, held at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. This is the lecture in full. Gerald O’Collins SJ is adjunct professor of Australia Catholic University.

Some events of world history fix themselves forever in our memories. We of an older generation remember where we were and how we reacted, for instance, when news came through about the 1963 assassination of President John Kennedy and the 1981 attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II. Much more recently many people will recall where they were and how they felt when they learned that Pope Benedict XVI had announced his resignation. It was characteristic of Michael Hayes, however, that, in the first editorial of The Pastoral Review he published after receiving the news of the papal resignation (March/April 2013), he did not indulge any personal reminiscences. He could have recalled, for instance, the 2010 papal visit to St Mary’s University and how he now felt about the dramatic news of Benedict’s resignation. Michael turned rather to the New Testament and reflected on ‘the Petrine Ministry: A Calling from the Lord’.